Month: April 2021

Almost four years after my last visit it is time to pay an overdue return to one of the most charming outposts of mechanical signalling in the North-West, at Helsby Junction in Cheshire, roughly mid-way between Warrington and Chester.

Since that June 2017 visit the semaphores have been replaced at nearby Frodsham Junction, as part of the Halton Curve revival, but Helsby remains an oasis of traditional signalling controlled by its Grade II-Listed London & North Western Railway signal box.

Continue reading “Day return to Helsby Junction”

Working semaphore distant signals have become a great rarity across the British rail network, as I have written many times, so after my successful December visit to west Cumbria it was time to revisit another area notable for its distant signals.

My only previous visit to the North Staffordshire Line (in March 2017) had taken me to Tutbury & Hatton, Scropton Crossing and Uttoxeter to photograph semaphore home signals at each location, but I had not had enough time to seek out the six working distant signals.

Continue reading “Distant delights in North Staffordshire”